‘Trystan said—‘
‘And you believe what he says?’
‘No,’ she said. ‘That’s why I’m talking to you about it. I want you to know that I know. And I want to know why you didn’t tell me.’
‘Because it’s embarrassing,’ he said, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees so that he didn’t have to look her in the face. ‘It’s disgusting. It’s a fucking joke, that’s why.’ Dax got up, looming close to her now that their bodies were both upright. ‘That sick motherfucker had his hands on you and if I think about—‘
‘Ok,’ she said, his fists clenched, so she stroked his arms until she saw them loosen. ‘I understand why you’re upset. But if this was what Mauri told you, how do you know that he wasn’t trying to upset you? Now, at the beach house, you’ll have the chance to talk to your mother and—‘
‘Do you think she’ll be honest?’ he asked. ‘We don’t know her, we can’t be sure that anything she says is the truth. I don’t know anything about her.’
‘We can find out who she is. Trust takes time to build, so I guess Mauri is giving us a chance to do that. I doubt that you’ll get to know her enough to trust her in the short time that we’re at the beach house with her.’ She hoped it was a short time. ‘But… it’s a start.’
‘You’re into this?’ Dax asked. ‘You want me to let her into our lives?’
‘I think it’s worth taking this opportunity. Yeah, we were going to turn our backs on it, but things have changed, and now we’re in it whether we like it or not. We might as well make the most of it.’
‘You don’t have a great relationship with your mom, you haven’t seen her since you were a teenager. Why do you think my mom will be different?’
‘We’re talking about two separate things,’ she said. ‘We don’t know that our mothers are the same. Besides, I’m not talking about having cosy Christmases together, all around the tree in jammies opening presents. I’m talking about having a conversation and finding out the truth about your past from the horse’s mouth.’
‘Keeping you safe is number one, babygirl,’ he said, placing his hands on her waist. ‘How do you feel about going back to the beach house?’
‘I think that explaining the jail cell in the basement might take some dancing.’
‘Mauri knows that we’re going, he asked us to go there last night. He would have assumed that he was getting his way so would’ve set the place up to receive guests. That cell wasn’t always there. So don’t be surprised if it’s gone now.’
‘My sister probably wouldn’t notice anyway, she’s not had the best luck in life… kind of like me I suppose, until I met you.’
‘You said she used drugs.’
‘The last time I saw her, she was staying with my aunt again, and she was with a guy… Rosie is always with a guy, but, yeah, this guy was bad news, and he got her mixed up in all sorts.’
‘Do you think that she’s cleaned herself up? She looked healthy enough last night.’
‘If she has, then being part of a family whose product is her vice might cause some problems. I can’t see the Stark world being good for her.’
‘I’m not sure it’s good for anyone,’ he said. His tune had changed so much in the time that they’d known each other, Ivy had to smile. ‘We’ll keep an eye on her.’
‘What about Bruno?’ she asked.
‘What about him?’ Dax asked.
‘Trystan said that he and Mauri had a fight, then Bruno took off. Do you think that’s true?’
‘I don’t give a fuck about him,’ Dax said. His form grew more rigid, so she encircled him in her arms.
‘Use this time with your mom, tough guy, see if her story matches Mauri’s. If we’re going to be stuck there anyway, then you might as well gain something.’
‘You see it as gaining something. I see it as nothing more than another hassle we have to deal with. My focus is on finding out who wants to hurt you, then I take the guy down, simple.’
‘You know… you can’t discount that Mauri is the one behind this.’
She didn’t like to be pessimistic about Mauri because she knew how much Dax respected him, so she was always expecting a negative response when she said anything less than favourable about the man.
‘I haven’t. I’m going to be keeping my eye on him. As long as you’re safe at the beach house I’ll keep investigating.’
‘He wanted us there, and now he’s getting what he wanted.’
‘Yeah,’ Dax agreed. ‘But if he wanted you dead he’s had plenty of chances. He could have done it last night, at the party, or while we were alone in the drawing room. He told his man to threaten you but not to harm you.’
‘Which was before we left there in the middle of the night without a word.’
‘He knows where I live, and he knew that we’d be here,’ Dax said, she closed her hands together at his spine. ‘He could have sent someone here as soon as I left to meet Serg, before either of us knew there was a threat. Putting out a bounty isn’t his style, there are plenty of guys on his payroll who would do that kind of work for him. He doesn’t need to put the word out to the world, he’d keep it quiet and get it done… if that was what he wanted.’
‘I trust you, Dax,’ she said. ‘But you are the only one I trust. You’ve trusted Mauri before and look how that turned out. If he was as reasonable as you thought, if he had been as understanding, then he would never have asked you to share me with Trystan, would he?’
‘What?’
‘Trystan told me. Why didn’t you tell me that piece of tantalising information? You didn’t trust me to deal with it?’ she asked.
No longer feeling like she wanted to be this close to a man she trusted with her life, she tried to walk away, but he caught her shoulder and brought her back. ‘Babygirl—‘
‘Don’t,’ she said, trying to wriggle out of his grasp. But her writhing prompted him to throw his arms around her and haul her body into his, giving her no choice but to accept his embrace because he was far stronger, so she had no way to free herself. Releasing her weight, she made no attempt to hold him as he held her, she just hung there in his arms letting him kiss her hair.
‘I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want to upset you,’ he said. ‘What does it matter? I told them that was never going to happen. You’re mine, you know that. I don’t care what Trystan said, you know I would never share my female with another man.’
‘Do I get a say?’
Now his embrace did relax, he stopped trying to squeeze the life out of her. ‘You wanted to spend the night with him?’
‘No, of course I didn’t. But we’re supposed to make decisions together, I… I don’t know why you keep withholding information from me. What else aren’t you telling me?’
‘You know everything else,’ he said. ‘We don’t have to deal with Bruno or Trystan anymore, and I guarantee you that after I’ve dealt with this mess, you will never have to deal with Maurice Stark or Brad ever again.’
‘You’re so sure?’ she asked, trying her best to lean back and look up at him. ‘That you don’t want to take over Maurice’s enterprises?’
‘No,’ he said. ‘We’re going back to our lives on the East Coast as soon as this is over.’
She probably shouldn’t be pleased to hear that, but she was. Dax had a chance to get to know his mother, to find out where he came from, but whether or not his mother would be a part of their lives after this mandated vacation remained to be seen.
Dax would dedicate his time to getting rid of the person who had made Ivy a pawn in a very dangerous game. It might be selfish of her, but she was looking forward to returning to the life they’d built together. Though at the moment, that life seemed incredibly far away and in more than just distance.
Chapter Fourteen
The first time Ivy had come to this beach house, she had been carted there in the trunk of Bruno and Dax’s car. When she was hauled out, she’d been bound and blindfolded. So this was her first chance to get a good look at the place, except it was dark, and there were internal lights blazing, which obscured the façade.